Botswana:Lobatse Police -Onkemetse Kwelagobe

LOBATSE POLICE STATION ONKAMETSE KWELAGOBE

The availability, relevance and accessibility of services offered by service providers to victims and perpetrators of Gender Based Violence.

The objectives of the project is to identify service providers for gender-based violence victims and perpetrators in Lobatse. It also sought to find out what services are offered to GBV victims and whether such services meet the needs of the victims and perpetrators.

The police station collected data through questionnaires and consultative meeting. It also conducted school outreaches, roadside Public education campaigns, fishbowl session, morning prayer outreaches, ladies night and commemorated gender marked days,

The police revealed that out of 13 known service providers in the locality nine 9 are government owned and four 4 are Non-Governmental organizations NGOs. Moreover, only three 3 of the service providers operate on a 24-hour basis.

Some of the station’s partners include; Urban Rhythm Café and Youth Center, Berekela Botswana Monana, Tribal Administrative Customary Courts, Botswana Prisons service, Ministry of health, Lobatse town council, Scout movement.

The stations budget was $84230.00

The stations targeted 35 women and 15 men who were direct beneficiaries of the project. The indirect beneficiaries were 175 women, 140 men. In total 210 women and 155 men benefited.

The station monitors the progress and impact of the project through continuous assessment and through the feedback received from both clients and service providers.

The station discovered that more members of the public were getting to know the services available in their locality and how to access them. They also found that service providers have begun sharing their services on social media platforms.

One of the challenges faced by the station in pursuit of their project was that members of the public were hesitant to be interviewed for fear of being judged and denied adequate services in the future. The second challenge was that the station had no budget for gender issues and activities and moreover core police duties took precedence over secondary gender work which meant that activities were implemented outside working hours.

Sustainability of the project can be achieved through various stakeholders introspecting on their services and working on the noted gaps. For instance, service providers need to make the public aware of their services and provide adequate services to their clients.

The stations next step is to cascade the project to other location and strengthen the stakeholder relationships for easy referrals. It also plans advocate for client friendly services and empower the clients on their rights to access services